Discus's Tolerence Level

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Prophet714

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 17, 2008
145
1
0
S. Cali
Hey guys,

I'm new to the discus world and community. I'm sure there is a lot to read about and that I could learn a lot from researching these forums. But before I do, there's a question I need an answer to first before I waste my efforts. I'd like to know how much maintenance it takes to care for Discus. I know the optimum condition is like 20% weekly water change or so. But I mean what's borderline survival mark for them? I'm not in anyway suggesting that I leave my tank that dirty, I'm just curious about their tolerance level.

I hear arrowanas are hard to keep, but i find it very easy. They are very tolerant even though most readings tell me they are delicate. sometimes i even get real busy and have no time to do water changes, either from swamped work or out of town business, the water would evaporate by 20% and my sister would have to add water in it for me. they even survive an over stocked tank when i was desperately waiting for an upgrade. I also don't play with the pH level and ive never lost an arrowana to water conditions. Just left it tapped water with chlorine removal.

So I hope you could answer me this, what could discuss handle? Like what is the poorest surviving condition? (or I'm actually asking, if anyone has lost their Discus to water conditions. if so how bad was it? haha) just wanted to know what i'm getting myself into before i start researching for no reason. I know ill be doing at least 2 week waters changes 20%. thats how much im doing for my arowana, datnoid, and bichir tank. but sometimes it could stretch out to 3 months, but rare.

Thanks guys, youll be helping me out so much.

Cheers MFK
 
For most fish it's not about water changes, but water quality. If the tank is large enough and has a low enough bio-load where nitrates stay very low, then water changes aren't necessarily required as often! What size tank for your discus? How many discus? What other fish?
 
Prophet714;2338108; said:
Hey guys,

I'm new to the discus world and community. I'm sure there is a lot to read about and that I could learn a lot from researching these forums. But before I do, there's a question I need an answer to first before I waste my efforts. I'd like to know how much maintenance it takes to care for Discus. I know the optimum condition is like 20% weekly water change or so. But I mean what's borderline survival mark for them? I'm not in anyway suggesting that I leave my tank that dirty, I'm just curious about their tolerance level.
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The frequency of maintenance depends on food availability, filtration capacity, number of fish and tank size. For juveniles below four inches, you'd certainly want to keep them in a barebottom tank to make maintenance especially vacuuming easier. Juvenile specimens require plenty of feedings and most importantly high protein diet which they needed in order to grow. Now, for several feedings in a day, the amount of wastes being produced by the fish also increases and therefore should be compensated by plenty of water changes to keep the water quality on top. Discus can easily stunt their growth just by improper water conditions. It is noticeable most especially if the discus looks like it has a football shape and eyes largely disproportionate to the body size.

I hear arrowanas are hard to keep, but i find it very easy. They are very tolerant even though most readings tell me they are delicate. sometimes i even get real busy and have no time to do water changes, either from swamped work or out of town business, the water would evaporate by 20% and my sister would have to add water in it for me. they even survive an over stocked tank when i was desperately waiting for an upgrade. I also don't play with the pH level and ive never lost an arrowana to water conditions. Just left it tapped water with chlorine removal.
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Arowanas are not that hard to keep but discus cannot be compared with the arowana. Each fish can tolerate water conditions differently but that doesn't mean a particular fish likes deteriorated water conditions and should be kept there at all.

If you plan to keep discus, buy your stocks from your local breeders. Most of the time, you are guaranteed a healthy stock compared to your LFS but that is still no excuse in not quarantining them unless you already have the tank just for them.

What size of tank are you going to start? Any plans how it should be set up? What other fish do you plan to buy?

So I hope you could answer me this, what could discuss handle? Like what is the poorest surviving condition? (or I'm actually asking, if anyone has lost their Discus to water conditions. if so how bad was it? haha) just wanted to know what i'm getting myself into before i start researching for no reason. I know ill be doing at least 2 week waters changes 20%. thats how much im doing for my arowana, datnoid, and bichir tank. but sometimes it could stretch out to 3 months, but rare.
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If you cannot cope with a weekly water change, try to ask your family members for you to keep the discus in excellent health conditions. Discus are very expensive fish.

You can start reading some...


Scientific Name: Symphysodon aequifasciatus
Common Name: Discus
Care Level: easy to moderately difficult
Size: 7-8 inches
pH Range: 6.0-7.5
Temperature Range: 28-30 degrees Celsius (82-86° F)
Origin: Amazon, Brazil
Temperament: peaceful
Compatible Tankmates:
These are suitable for community setups although care must be taken when selecting their tankmates. These fish are easily stressed so boisterous tankmates must be avoided. Similarly, fish that have a tendency to nip others' fins should not be kept together with this fish.
Diet:
Omnivorous. Discus in excellent health conditions will eat almost anything although avoid excessive meaty foods which may result in digestive upsets as proteins are not easily digested by their body system.
Tank Size for Adult: 20g for a breeding pair ; minimum of 4 for a 55g.
Narrative:
Discus is considered the king of all the aquarium fish due to their elegance and regal movement. These are regarded as the most beautiful of all tropical fish. For decades, these have been bred to develop dozens of strains to satisfy the hobbyists wishing to keep these fish.

Discus hail from Amazon basin of Brazil and can be found swimming together with the angelfish. For a fish with deep and laterally compressed body, they can be found in shallow portions of the rivers often stalking amongst the tall reeds and tree roots looking for prey. Water there has subdued lighting due to the tannic acids released by decaying vegetative matter found on the forest floors. The water has very little movements thus these fish are unable to tolerate any currents as dictated by their body structure.

Discus can reach almost 8 inches in body diameter so deep tanks are recommended when attempting to keep a group. The tanks must be furnished with driftwoods and heavy plant matter for them to be able to seek refuge. The temperature must be kept steady at 28-30 degrees Celsius as they become more vulnerable to pathogens if kept in temperature lower than what is required.

For beginners, it is best to obtain your fish from local breeders rather than your local fish store as the quality of the stocks you get are guaranteed to be in excellent health condition compared to the ones found in your local fish store. It is generally recommended to keep young discus (with body size no bigger than four inches) in barebottom tanks where maintenance is much easier as they require plenty of feedings on daily basis and water changes to compensate for the amount of wastes produced as these fish can easily stunt their growth if their requirements are not met properly.

Most people keep discus in planted tanks where they look quite stunning as they parade around the tank in a regal manner. However, it must be noted most plants lack tolerance for high temperature. This is also similarly applicable to tankmates. Boisterous and nippy tankmates are best avoided. Angelfish, rams, apistogrammas, corydoras and tetras generally make fine additions provided the selected tankmates can tolerate 28 degrees Celsius and above.

Discus are not sexually dimorphic so sexing is not possible until spawning stage. Discus tend to be choosy in picking their tankmates so allow the juveniles to grow and as they grow, they begin to select their partners and eventually pair off as they become sexually matured. Like the angelfish, males are distinguished by their pointed ovipositors which are positioned forward whereas females have round ovipositors positioned backward.

Breeding is not the same as the angelfish as they are a little more difficult to breed. After they chose their spawning spot, the female then starts laying her eggs on the spot and the male tries to release his milt to be able to fertilize the eggs. Sometimes, first time spawners will eat their eggs so you need to be patient when this happens. It takes time before the discus learn how to take care of their eggs properly. Most breeders use upturned terracotta pots when breeding these fish. Other alternatives are PVC pipes and slates. The resulting fry should never be removed from their parents as they rely on their parents' slime coats in order to grow. This mistake was what had baffled some breeders in the 1980s thus leading to frustrating experiences until the actual feeding behavior was discovered.
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thanks for the fast reply guys

knowdafish, I'm prolly gonna put them in my 120 gallon tank with the arowana, bichirs and datnoid if i dont do their own tank.

Lupid. thanks for your informative post. It got me goin in the right direction. Happen to know any local breeders in Southern Cali? LA and Orange county area?
 
I dont think those are good tankmates for Discus. You certainly dont wanna pay good money for nice discus, only to have them beat up and killed. If not actually killed by injury they may just die from stress.
 
Prophet714;2338130; said:
knowdafish, I'm prolly gonna put them in my 120 gallon tank with the arowana, bichirs and datnoid if i dont do their own tank.
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Please bear in mind discus are very placid fish that will easily get stressed just having boisterous tankmates around. Bichirs may be fine but datnoids and arowanas are another story. Discus like to be the most dominant fish around the tank. Arowanas are just not the most suitable tankmates at all due to their tendency to stalk tankmates around which could only severely stressed the fish out of fear of being attacked.

If I were you, reconsider all tankmates. The only fish I would ever keep with discus are angelfish, apistogrammas, rams, tetras, corydoras, pencilfish, hatchetfish, plecos and most loaches. Please make the temperature ranges your top priority as well as compatibility. Most fish lack tolerance for very warm waters.

Lupid. thanks for your informative post. It got me goin in the right direction. Happen to know any local breeders in Southern Cali? LA and Orange county area?
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You can try our very own forum vendor, Discus-Hans. The owner has a very good reputation for high quality discus around the Monster Aquaria Network. You may visit his forum section in Marketplace found if you scroll the forum homepage to the bottom. Discus-Hans is also a very active member in this section. PM himif you wish to buy from him his discus.

Pyramid_Party;2338139; said:
I dont think those are good tankmates for Discus. You certainly dont wanna pay good money for nice discus, only to have them beat up and killed. If not actually killed by injury they may just die from stress.
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Exactly. Discus that are often stressed will become very vulnerable to plenty of diseases. I might add that once the discus darkens abnormally in color, consider addressing what exactly cause the stress levels.
 
I have discus with angels, bichirs, clown loaches. Becareful in what specy bichirs you choose if you plan to have angelfish and discus as tankmates. You should really reconsider your tankmates if you decide to have discus. Plus, I would reconsider your waterchange schedule if you want discus. It does help to find an active and healthy pair to begin with. They're generally pretty expensive but if you look around you'll get some at a good price. Thanks Lupin for the post. This thread has helped me understand a great on discus.
 
Prophet714;2341718; said:
really? I've seen arowanas co existing with discus. and my datnoid is very timid, not rowdy in anyway way
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You could try but I don't recommend the combo especially as discus are easily stressed out when stalked around.
 
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